Free Roll the Dice by Mimi Barbour Page A

took their places.   
    “Three hard birth-pushes later; the baby entered the world with a
boisterous cry. The doctor took care of the umbilical cord, then passed the
child to the waiting nurse. Quickly, she cleaned and enshrouded him in a
blue-sided blanket. Then while Aurora looked on in amazement, the satisfied
caregiver thrust him into Debbie’s waiting arms. Both women surveyed the
wizened little male while tears rained down their faces.
    “He’s gorgeous, Deb, such a handsome baby.” Wrinkly, red-faced and
complaining loudly, Aurora knew she'd never seen anything more beautiful.
    Lips quivering, Debbie looked into Aurora’s eyes with a warning glint in
her own. “Get Cory for me, okay? It’s time he met his son.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter
Fourteen
     
    The next morning, Cory paced around his office—behind the chair Aurora
sat in and past where Kai leaned against the wall. A business card he held in
his hand was being flicked back and forth on his palm.
    “You didn’t get anything from the clinic. No one talked to our man
Rhondo, or had an appointment with him. Did you show them his mug shot?”
    “Yes! We all but begged.   Not one
person had anything to say. They wanted to help us, but you can’t get what
isn’t there.” Aurora used Cory’s own favourite phrase back on him.
    “Have you gone through the case files to see if any of his victims
worked there? Or any other links to the place?”
    “Nothing! I checked.” Again Aurora answered.
    A knock on the door had everyone turning to see Detective Hampton enter.
The big Irish officer, working follow-up on the case, wore an expression of
puzzlement. “Just found something. Not sure if it’s applicable. It says here
that the clinic had a break-in last month. But it was almost a week before the
day we figured Rhondo arrived back in town.”
    Kai leaned forward, his face lit up with interest “What date?
    “The twenty-third of June.”
    “It could have been him. He went to ground in the second week of the
month. We lost all track of him in L.A. He could have been here.”
    “We picked him up last week. If he’d returned to town, he kept a low
profile.” Aurora’s mind shot back through the relevant dates she’d stored in
her mental file cabinet.
    “What doctor’s office?” Cory perched his big body on the edge of his
desk, his hand reaching for the sheet.
    Ham passed it over and said. “A GP called Montgomery. She was the bitchy
one who wouldn’t give us the time of day. Said when she'd needed us, we ignored
her.”
    Cory scratched the back of his head. “The name sounds familiar. We
wouldn’t have been called in for a robbery. “What went missing?”
    Ham answered—his Irish dialect obvious. “Looked like an ordinary
B&E. Figured to be neighbourhood kids. The place was ransacked and drugs on
the premises went missing.”
    “What drugs?”
    “Mostly pain killers but with street value. The doctor’s statement said
she’d been visited by a number of drug representatives who’d left her a
selection of samples. They were all taken. Looks to me like we jumped through
the hoops, but nothing came up.   Says
here, the lass called repeatedly.”
    “I want you to go back and get the goods on what went down. If she gives
you any trouble, subpoena her. I want to know what files were messed with.
Also, if they took anything other than drugs. This might be a false lead, but
we can’t afford to let anything slip through the cracks. Not with this
bastard.” He handed the sheet back.
    “On it, Boss.” Ham left the office.
    “That leaves you two to work on the journal. I’ve called the special victims
units in the other places Rhondo hit and promised to send on the pertinent
data. But we need you to follow up on his victims here in this city.” With his
short red hair standing on end and his temper barely held in check, Cory meant
business. “I want him Aurora.
    "We'll get him. You can bet on it."